Although applicable to any aircraft and spacecraft, the present invention and the problems on which it is based are explained in greater detail in relation to aircraft.
Modern aircraft, in particular passenger jumbo jets or “twin-aisle” aircraft, comprise a plurality of electrical loads. These loads comprise for example the control electronics of the aircraft, the cabin lighting, the electronic devices of the in-flight entertainment (IFE), the galley and the like.
In modern aircraft, an increasingly complex energy supply network is required for supplying these electrical loads. Conventional energy supply networks of this type are shown for example in DE 102008043626 A1 and US 2008100136 A1. An energy supply network of this type consists of a plurality of generators which are driven by the engines of the aircraft, a central energy control device or primary energy distribution, a plurality of secondary distributors, the actual electrical loads and the corresponding supply lines.
The electrical energy generated by the electrical generators is conveyed to the electrical loads in the aircraft via supply lines and via distributors. In modern jumbo jets, for example the Airbus A380-800, having a total length of over 70 meters, there are a large number of electrical loads. Owing to the large aircraft length of jumbo jets of this type, expensive, increasingly complex cabling is required. Since the primary energy distribution is currently usually placed at the front of the aircraft cabin and the electrical loads are mostly connected to said primary energy distribution via a point-to-point connection, a plurality of electrical supply lines are required in order to be able to connect all the electrical loads to the energy supply network.
To reduce this cabling cost in modern aircraft, secondary distributors are provided which obtain a controlled supply voltage from the primary energy distribution and forward it to the electrical loads, which for example are connected to the primary energy distribution via common supply lines. If the individual electrical loads in energy supply networks of this type are supplied via these secondary distributors, the cabling cost is reduced considerably.
However, the use of the above-described energy supply network in jumbo jets has the result that electrical supply lines from all energy generating devices, for example also from an auxiliary generator in the tail region of the jumbo jet, must be laid to the primary energy distribution in the front region of the aircraft. If an electrical load in the tail region of the aircraft, for example an electrical load of a galley, must be supplied with electrical energy, it is necessary to lay additional electrical supply lines along the entire length of the aircraft in order to connect the respective electrical load, or a secondary distributer which supplies a group of loads with electrical energy, to the primary energy distribution located in the front region of the aircraft. This results in high cabling costs and a considerable increase in the weight of the aircraft.
FIG. 5 shows a schematic view of an aircraft or spacecraft LF comprising a conventional energy supply network of this type.
The aircraft or spacecraft LF in FIG. 5 comprises an aircraft fuselage A, to which two wings B-1, B-2, each having two engines C-1 to C-4, and a tail unit D are attached. A front region E and a tail region F are also provided in the aircraft LF. In the aircraft LF in FIG. 5, four generators G-1 to G-4, which are each provided on one of the engines C-1 to C-4 of the aircraft LF, and two auxiliary or “APU” (Auxiliary Power Unit) generators G-5, G-6 in the tail region F of the aircraft LF are provided. The generators G-1 to G-6 are connected to a central energy control device H or “primary energy distribution” H. In the case of the auxiliary generators G-5, G-6, this is shown by an arrow in the direction of the front region E of the aircraft LF. Furthermore, eight secondary distributors I-1 to I-8 and two secondary distributors for cargo loads I-9, I-10 are connected to the central energy control device H. Of these eight secondary distributors I-1 to I-8, preferably four in each case, for example four secondary distributors I-2, I-4, I-6, I-8 on the left-hand side and four secondary distributors I-1, I-3, I-5, I-7 on the right-hand side of the aircraft fuselage A, are coupled to the central energy control device H by a common electrical line. The two secondary distributors for cargo loads I-9, I-10 are also coupled to the central energy control device H by the line of the right-hand secondary distributors I-1, I-3, I-5, I-7. Finally, two loads J-1, J-3 or electrical loads J-1, J-3 are integrated with the first two of the left-hand secondary distributors I-2, I-6 and one load J-2 is directly connected to the energy control means H.
In the aircraft or spacecraft LF shown in FIG. 5, all the secondary distributors I-1 to I-10 and some of the electrical loads J-2 are supplied directly by the central energy control device H. Other electrical loads J-1, J-3 are supplied by one of the secondary distributors I-1 to I-10, which draw electrical energy from the central energy control means H and distribute this to individual electrical loads J-1, J-3, for example electrical loads of a galley, of a cabin announcement system or the like. For all generators G-1 to G-6 and all components supplied with electrical energy by the central energy control device H, lines must be laid from their installation site to the central energy control device H. In the aircraft LF shown in FIG. 5 it can clearly be seen that, for example for supplying the secondary distributors I-7, I-8, an electrical line from the energy control device H must be laid through the entire aircraft fuselage A. In the least favourable case, electrical energy is generated by the auxiliary generators G-5, G-6 and transported via electrical lines to the energy control device H in the front region E of the aircraft LF. This electrical energy is then transported back through the entire aircraft fuselage A to the secondary energy distributors I-7, I-8. Laying electrical cables from the tail region F of the aircraft LF to the front region E of the aircraft LF and back results in considerable planning and cabling costs and to a high weight for the cabling of the aircraft LF.
An extension, modification or adaptation of the energy supply network is also made more difficult by the predetermined architecture of the conventional energy supply network. If for example the energy supply network of the aircraft LF is to be extended and additional electrical loads integrated into the energy supply network, the central energy control device H must be adapted to the new, larger maximum electrical power. Depending on the position of the additional electrical loads inside the aircraft LF, all the cabling inside the aircraft LF must also be adapted. This results in high development and planning costs for each additional electrical load which is to be added to the energy supply network of the aircraft LF. A conventional energy supply network of this type is therefore not easily adaptable. The current conventional architecture of an energy supply network for an aircraft or spacecraft or an aircraft LF is therefore not very flexible for adaptations of this type.